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Volume 122 No. 9
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OCTOBER 5, 2013 - OCTOBER 11, 2013
Government Shutdown Harder on Black Workers
Shonda Rhimes, Black TV Mogul, Named to Kennedy Center Board
By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although the shutdown of the federal government that began Oct. 1 is affecting all Americans, a disproportionate portion of the 800,000 furloughed federal workers are African Americans, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Because government jobs have been more available to Blacks than
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Writer, director and producer Shonda Rhimes
By Zenitha Prince AFRO Contributing Writer
Ft. McHenry is one of the many U.S. parks closed due to the shutdown.
Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Park Service
A recent White House announcement is demonstrating once again that Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. President Obama recently appointed the Black writer, director and producer to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Rhimes, a Golden Globe winner and three-time Emmy nominee, is best known as the creator of hit shows “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.” She is one of two Black board appointees. Obama also appointed Frank F. Islam, a Black philanthropist and technology entrepreneur to the board.
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Open Enrollment Begins for Affordable Care Act visited the website and more than 1,000 people have called the call center. There has been a lot of excitement about expanded coverage,” Quattrocki added. Despite the ongoing political machinations Open enrollment into Maryland Health of the Republican Party, open enrollment for Connection – the state’s health insurance marketplace individuals officially began for the Affordable Care Act – also known as “Obamacare” – as mandated by the Affordable Care Act – lasts until scheduled. March 31. Coverage begins for individuals on Jan. 1. In West Baltimore at Coppin State University’s In Maryland, as in other states, the launch School of Nursing – consistently ranked as one of the did not happen without glitches, yet day one was best in the nation – operates the Community Health far from the catastrophe predicted – and perhaps Center, which provides healthcare for the uninsured hoped for – by some opponents of the law. President Obama, with HHS Secretary Kathleen “We are still experiencing some technical and underserved. Sebelius, listens as enrollees in the Affordable Care challenges with the website,” said Carolyn “At the nursing center yesterday there really wasn’t Act tell their stories in the Oval Office, Oct. 1. Quattrocki, executive director of the Governor’s any significant change in the environment on the first White House photo by Pete Souza day, and I think it (beginning of open enrollment) was Office of Health Care Reform on Oct. 1. overshadowed by the [federal] government shutdown,” Dr. Marcella Copes, dean and “We’ve seen a high volume of web traffic, and the site had some unexpected bottlenecks. Our IT teams are working aggressively to resolve these issues. In the Continued on A6 meantime, we have found tremendous interest in coverage, 87,000 people have By Sean Yoes AFRO Contributing Writer
Family Outraged: Police Pursuit Ends in Death of Innocent Woman
Xavier Montgomery and Salecia Dingle are just a couple of the many teens exposed to international culture by way of Baltimore initiatives to get youths out of the country.
Important Questions Remain Unanswered By Blair Adams AFRO Staff Writer An immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angel Chiwengo arrived in the U.S. with only a few dollars in her pocket last year. Chiwengo, 46, who joined her family in Baltimore, held a job and was soon to be a grandmother, was one of three killed in a fiery crash Sept. 24 that ended a four-mile police “pursuit.” Chiwengo, who was living with her brother in Reisterstown, was returning from her job as a housekeeper at a DoubleTree Hotel, and being driven home by a colleague, Andrew Baker, when a car carrying two men who police had been pursuing for four miles, slammed into the Jeep Baker was driving. The resulting collision triggered a fire that killed the Chiwengo and the two men police were following and tied up the intersection of York Road and Northern Parkway Angel Chiwengo for ten hours. Baltimore police officials declined to say whether the pursuit was a chase in violation of police policy prohibiting all but authorized chases under the directive a police commander. They also declined to say whether the pursuing car was a marked or unmarked police vehicle. “We didn’t know anything,” Chiwengo’s brother-in-law, Nathan Franklin told the AFRO. “We had been calling her since 6 a.m. that morning because her daughter went into labor.” Franklin said after driving to Chiwengo’s house, and not getting an answer at the door, he and his wife Pascaline began to worry. “For some reason the crashed that happened earlier that morning popped in my head,” Franklin said. After he told his
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Photo Courtesy of The Cambio Group/ LaMarr Shields
Travel Initiatives Broaden Baltimore Youths’ Global Vision
By Alexis Taylor Special to the AFRO
Though she’s not yet considered an adult, Brieona Carter has already put a stamp in her passport, and miles of culture underneath her feet. At just 17, her “must-do” list already has a scratch through the “travel Africa” line, and like many other youths from the Baltimore area, she has taken full advantage of the community organizations encouraging teens to push past their native borders to become trekkers of the globe. “I spent 10 days in Ethiopia and the remainder in Ghana,” Carter told the AFRO, at a recent open house for Afrikan Youth Alchemy (AYA).
“It wasn’t like I was thrown into everything, but you were set into a regular African community. We were organically immersed into the culture.” Participants camped at different locations, got into the habit of walking to markets to get fresh fruit and other necessities and directly engaged with African community members while partaking in their daily routines. “It was an amazing experience,” she said. And the AYA Project isn’t the only group focused on exposing area teens and young adults to the possibilities beyond Charm City’s boundaries. Fresh off the plane from Haiti, Xavier Montgomery’s
Copyright © 2013 by the Afro-American Company
life has also forever been changed as a result of his travels. This year the 16-year-old high school junior, along with roughly 13 other youths took an eight-day adventure through the Dominican Republic and Haiti as part of The Big Payback, an initiative jointly created by Taharka Brothers Ice Cream, LaMarr Darnell Shields, president of the Urban Leadership Institute, and De La Sol, an Alabama service organization. (CQ) “I learned about the different cultures they have in Haiti,” said Montgomery. “I took away a sense of pride and I now have a better sense of self-awareness.” Montgomery said he Continued on A5